The Spanish Democratic Socialist Party (, abbreviation PSDE) was a political party in Spain, active during the transition to democracy. The party was founded in 1975. The party sought to establish a democratic constitution in Spain. Antonio García López was the general secretary of the party.Elvert, Jürgen, and Sylvain Schirmann. Zeiten Im Wandel: Deutschland Im Europa Des 20. Jh. : Kontinuität, Entwicklungen, Und Brüche = Tiempos De Cambio : Alemania En La Europa Del Siglo XX : Continuidad, Evolución Y Ruptura = Changing Times : Germany in 20th-Century Europe : Continuity, Evolution, and Breakdowns. Bruxelles: P.I.E. Peter Lang, 2008. p. 153Espadas Burgos, Manuel, and José Luis Comellas. Historia general de España y América. T. 19-2. Madrid: Rialp, 1987. p. 498

Political line PSDE was formed following a split in the Spanish Social Democratic Union (USDE) of Dionisio Ridruejo.Monroy, Juan Antonio. Obras completas. Tomo I-Tomo X Terrassa: Clie, 1998. p. 53Revista de Estudios Políticos, Eds. 135–136. Instituto de Estudios Políticos, 2007. p. 193 The party had an anti-Marxist position, adhering to the social democratic line of Ridruejo.Fernández de Castro, Ignacio. De las Cortes de Cádiz al posfranquismo (1808-1980). Barcelona: Ediciones 2001, 1981. p. 571 García López sympathized with the Godesberg Program of the Social Democratic Party of Germany.Fundación Juan March. En la socialdemocracia quieren ahora salvarse muchos del antiguo Régimen He (albeit supporting legalization of the Communist Party of Spain) rejected any form of alliance with the communists. Moreover, he rejected the 'monopolization' of the socialist movement by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE).El País. Nuevos intentos hacia la unidad socialista

Leadership The party was led by a National Commission.El País. Disuelta la Alianza Socialista Democrática García López had been the vice chairman of USDE, before the death of Ridruejo. García López had also belonged to PSOE and had argued for an anti-Marxist position within that party. In PSOE García López had been booed by the delegates at the party congress in Suresnes.Gillespie, Richard. The Spanish Socialist Party: A History of Factionalism. Oxford [England]: Clarendon Press, 1989. p. 319 García López was accused of being a CIA agent, a fact that made other groups suspicious of PSDE.Mellado Morales, Juan de Dios, and Antonio Ramos Espejo. Memoria de la transición democrática en Almería. Granada: C&T Editores, 2005. p. 75 José M. Martínez de la Pedraja served as the PSDE party chairman.El País. Con asistencia Jesús Prados Arrarte was the first vice president of the party.El País. Socialismo y socialdemocracia Ana María Pérez del Campo, vice president of the Association of Separated Women, also served as vice party president.El País. Ana María Pérez del Campo Manuel Gómez Reino was the assistant general secretary of the party.El País. Reunión PNV-PSDE en San Juan de la Luz

History Legalization In early 1976 a group in Valencia broke away from PSDE and formed the Unified Democratic Socialist Party (PSDU).El País. Dieciséis grupos integran la "Taula" valenciana In the summer of 1976 the Valencia-based Labour Party merged into the PSDE.El País. El Partido Laborista de Valencia confirma su integración en el PSDE In August 1976 the PSDE founded the Sindicato Democrático de Ganaderos Montañeses, an agrarian union headed by Martínez de la Pedraja, in Santander. On September 11, 1976, PSDE submitted an application for legal registration as a political party to the General Director of Interior Politics. The application was drafted following a meeting between the party and the president of the Government.El País. El PSDE y la asociación UDE quieren legalizarse como partidos PSDE was legally registered on October 4, 1976.Heras, Raúl. Enciclopedia política y atlas electoral de la democracia española. Madrid: Temas de Hoy, 1997. p. 428

Alliances In late 1976 PSDE entered into coalition talks with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (historic) (PSOE(H)) and Spanish Social Reform (RSE).El País. Posible alianza entre PSOE (histórico), PSDE y Reforma Social The three parties formed the Democratic Socialist Alliance.Fundación Juan March. Alianza Socialista Democrática In November 1976 workers from PSDE and RSE joined the PSOE(H) trade union, Unión General de Trabajadores (sector histórico) (UGT(H)).El País. Partidos antimarxistas incrementan la UGT (histórica) In February 1977 PSDE, PSOE(H), RSE and the Social Democratic Federation (FSD) formed a new alliance, the Centre-Left Electoral Union.El País. Lasuén se une a García López Cantarero y MurilloEl País. La Unión Electoral de Centro Izquierda, quiere ampliarseEl País. Comienza la preparación de las campañas electorales In April 1977 PSDE and PSOE(H) jointly founded the Democratic Socialist Youth.El País. Juventudes Socialistas Democráticas

On May 3, 1977, PSDE and PSOE(H) formalized the constitution of the Democratic Socialist Alliance. FSD had left the Centre-Left Electoral Union, and RSE was expelled from the Democratic Socialist Alliance due to differences with PSOE(H). RSE did however closely association with the alliance, but contested the elections with separate candidatures.El País. Otras opciones

In the words of García López the Democratic Socialist Alliance was an embryo of a united Spanish socialist party.El País. Apoyo europeo para Alianza Socialista Democrática Ahead of the elections, García López traveled to Brussels to negotiate for support for the Democratic Socialist Alliance from the European socialist movement.

Defections from the party In February 1977, the vice presidents Pérez del Campo and Prados Arrarte left the party.El País. Prados Arrarte hace efectiva su dimisión del PSDE Another prominent PSDE to leave the party was Ulpiano Sánchez Vilchez, vice president of the Madrid organization of PSDE.El País. Dimisiones en el PSDE

1977 elections In the 1977 general election the Democratic Socialist Alliance obtained 101,916 votes (0.56% of the national vote). PSDE ran a separate list in Santander, where the party obtained 3,786 votes (1,48% of the votes in that province).Ministerio del Interior. Elecciones Congreso de los Diputados Junio 1977 - Provincia: CANTABRIA Fundación Juan March. Ha sido establecido el orden de la ultimas intervenciones políticas : La fijación de horas se realiza por sorteoEl Mundo. Así votaron los españoles el 15 de junio de 1977 Towards the end of June 1977 the leaderships of both PSDE and PSOE(H) declared that the Democratic Socialist Alliance had been dissolved.El País. El PSOE quiere que la reforma administrativa se discuta en las Cortes

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